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Tuesday, April 28, 2015

KOTA KINABALU - The case of Sabahan Persana Avril Sollunda, 32, a part time model and spa worker in Kuala Lumpur, has gone viral in Sabah in particular after a photo of her with Huguan Siou Joseph Pairin Kitingan emerged on social media.

Pairin told local media that he had seen the picture but could not recollect when it was taken. “I don’t know her,” he assured the media. “Many people have their pictures taken with me. It’s normal. When they ask, you oblige. But I don’t remember her. Who is she?”

He was amused when the media related her antics in Petaling Street recently. Sollunda can be seen next to Pairin in the picture, in a low-cut blouse. The Huguan Siou, who is also Deputy Chief Minister and President of the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), was in traditional costume.

Sollunda, of mixed Dusun-Thai (Chinese)- Indian (Sikh) ancestry, was charged in the Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday under Section 294 of the Penal Code for allegedly committing an obscene act in public. She claimed trial. If found guilty she faces three months in jail, a fine or both.

Magistrate Zura Syazween Hamizan fixed May 29 for mention. She was arrested by police last Saturday under Section 509 of the Penal Code for public indecency. On Sunday, police confirmed she had tested positive for methamphetamine.

Sollunda came to public notice last Thursday when she reportedly refused to pay RM18 for her chicken rice meal at a stall along Petaling Street. Initial reports said that there was also a man with her, a Caucasian, who isn’t in the video of her which went viral.

She’s heard arguing with two hawkers in the video, insisting that she had paid, that she had left the money on the table etc. When the duo persisted in demanding that she pay up, she first removed her white jacket, next her black blouse and finally her bra. The duo backed off.

She calmly went swinging along the street, jacket in hand after having abandoned her blouse and bra which she earlier threw at a female hawker. She can be seen pausing, having her pictures taken by someone, and swinging around a couple of times in a pose before walking off. - FMT